Reflections on Matthew 21

Matthew 21 (Contemporary English Version)


1. When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead.
   
2. He told them, "Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me.
   
3. If anyone asks why you are doing that, just say, 'The Lord needs them.' Right away he will let you have the donkeys."
   
4. So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said,
   
5. "Announce to the people of Jerusalem: 'Your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey. He comes on the colt of a donkey.' "
   
6. The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do.
   
7. They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.
   
8. Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches which they had cut from trees.
   
9. Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting, "Hooray for the Son of David! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hooray for God in heaven above!"
   
10. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, "Who can this be?"
    
11. The crowd answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
    
12. Jesus went into the temple and chased out everyone who was selling or buying. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the ones who were selling doves.
    
13. He told them, "The Scriptures say, 'My house should be called a place of worship.' But you have turned it into a place where robbers hide."
    
14. Blind and lame people came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them.
    
15. But the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were angry when they saw his miracles and heard the children shouting praises to the Son of David.
    
16. The men said to Jesus, "Don't you hear what those children are saying?" "Yes, I do!" Jesus answered. "Don't you know that the Scriptures say, 'Children and infants will sing praises'?"
    
17. Then Jesus left the city and went out to the village of Bethany, where he spent the night.
    
18. When Jesus got up the next morning, he was hungry. He started out for the city,
    
19. and along the way he saw a fig tree. But when he came to it, he found only leaves and no figs. So he told the tree, "You will never again grow any fruit!" Right then the fig tree dried up.
    
20. The disciples were shocked when they saw how quickly the tree had dried up.
    
21. But Jesus said to them, "If you have faith and don't doubt, I promise that you can do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do even more. You can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will.
    
22. If you have faith when you pray, you will be given whatever you ask for."
    
23. Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, "What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?"
    
24. Jesus answered, "I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things.
    
25. Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?" They thought it over and said to each other, "We can't say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John.
    
26. On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize."
    
27. So they told Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do."
    
28. Jesus said: I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, "Go work in the vineyard today!"
    
29. His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went.
    
30. The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go.
    
31. Which one of the sons obeyed his father? "The older one," the chief priests and leaders answered. Then Jesus told them: You can be sure that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will!
    
32. When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.
    
33. Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story: A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.
    
34. When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes.
    
35. But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death.
    
36. He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.
    
37. Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him.
    
38. But when they saw the man's son, they said, "Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves."
    
39. So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
    
40. Jesus asked, "When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?"
    
41. The chief priests and leaders answered, "He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time."
    
42. Jesus replied, "You surely know that the Scriptures say, 'The stone that the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all. This is something the Lord has done, and it is amazing to us.'
    
43. I tell you that God's kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands.
    
44. Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces."
    
45. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them.
    
46. So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.
    

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As Jesus approached Jerusalem, He was just days away from His crucifixion. The events recorded in chapter 21 show a stark contrast between the reactions to Jesus of the general populace and those of the Jewish leaders. First there was the dramatic recognition of Jesus in what is often referred to as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. As Jesus came into the city on the donkey we are told, "A very large crowd spread their robes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" What prompted this response from the people? Primarily, the Lord prompted it, for this was fulfillment of prophecy. At another level, though, we realize that the crowds were larger in Jerusalem at this time because of the coming Passover celebration, bringing people from all over Israel. Although the residents of Jerusalem might not have been greatly familiar with Jesus since He had avoided the city for the most part, those who had come from other parts of Israel, Galilee in particular, would have been quite familiar with Him. It was likely this group who initiated the triumphal response to Jesus' entry into the city, and probable that the residents of Jerusalem were those who were asking, "Who is this?" Such an event caused "the whole city" to be shaken.

This scene is then contrasted by the scenes at the temple that followed. Jesus went into the temple and immediately challenged what was taking place. Rather than aiding the people in their worship of God, the leaders were profiting from it by requiring the people to buy their animals for sacrifice from them at inflated prices and also requiring them to exchange their money, which had circulated in society, for temple money - with a price attached. In addition to this challenge of the religious leaders, people were coming to Jesus at the temple and He was healing them and teaching them. In contrast to the crowd that had earlier proclaimed of Jesus, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" the chief priests and elders asked Jesus by what authority He did these things. While this seems a legitimate question to ask of one who had come into the temple and began to 'take over,' the healing signs He performed both then and throughout His ministry gave abundant evidence that this was not some ordinary man who had overstepped His authority.

Jesus' response to these leaders on this occasion set the stage for His crucifixion. We do not know whether or not these Jerusalem leaders were having thoughts of dealing with Jesus before His arrival in Jerusalem on this occasion, but the response to Him by the crowds upon His entry into the city and even at the temple, His healing and teaching at the temple, and now His public comments to them sealed His fate with them. In response to their question of what authority Jesus had for doing all these things, Jesus asked them a question and told two parables. The question: "Where did John's baptism come from? From heaven or from men?" This question not only demonstrated the questionable position these leaders had taken by not accepting John but also the shaky ground they were on by not accepting Jesus. With John or with Jesus if they were to say their work was from heaven, the obvious followup question would be, "Then why didn't you believe him?" And, if they were to say of either of them that their work was from men, the leaders could fear the crowd for everyone thought John was a prophet and that Jesus was something even more than a prophet. They were not willing to answer Jesus' question so He did not answer their question concerning His authority.

The first parable: Then Jesus told a parable in which the chief priests and elders were unfavorably compared to tax collectors and prostitutes. In it, the tax collectors and prostitutes were likened to a son who first told his father he would not work in the family vineyard, but then relented and went to work in the vineyard. But the leaders were likened to a second son who first told the father he would work in the vineyard but did not do it. Then Jesus said that these tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the kingdom of God ahead the chief priests and elders. What a charge to make of these men before this crowd!

The second parable: Jesus immediately followed the first parable with a second that gave further meaning to His charge against these religious leaders. In this parable the chief priests and elders were likened to farmers who leased a vineyard from a wealthy landowner. However, when the grape harvest was near and the landowner sent his slaves to collect his portion of the fruit, the farmers beat, killed, and stoned them. The owner sent more slaves with the same result. Then he sent his own son thinking they would respect him, but they also killed him thinking they would get his inheritance. God had placed His people, Israel, in the care of these leaders and they had not given God His due. Instead they were trying to claim the people as their own rather than God's. God sent the prophets and they beat and killed them, and now He had sent His only Son and they were about to do the same to Him. At the conclusion of this second parable, Jesus told the leaders, "Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit."

Jesus gave the leaders no choice. The could not idly receive such charges. Either they must agree with Jesus and repent, or they must do something about Jesus to get rid of Him.